Why we Discontinued the Sale of Retractable Leashes

Forward by Christine Mallar:
This is a blog post written by Dr. Karen Becker, DVM. She’s a veterinarian with an active blog discussing many aspects of pet health and behavior. This article sums up the issues we had with these leashes so well that I thought I would paste it here for your benefit. When I was a trainer teaching classes I quickly banned them from class time, as dogs can suddenly dash into the space of another dog that might have social issues. This has continued to plague us at the store, as many dogs are reactive on leash or simply overexcited by other dogs. Some dogs are painfully frightened of being in a store to begin with, and being in close space with other dogs nearby can exacerbate this. When another dog on a retractable leash can quickly rush into their space, fights can break out. Stopping a fight is very difficult and dangerous if you can’t pull them out of the situation with their leash, and reaching in to remove the dog on a retractable leash would put the human in danger of being bitten. This also creates an unfair disadvantage for other people that are carefully trying to train dogs with social issues, as their ability to manage their dog’s space to keep their dog comfortable is destroyed easily by a dog that is suddenly 16 feet away from their owner and in that dog’s space. It can be a huge training setback for these people who are trying to provide positive experiences for their dog in a place that contains other dogs within sight range.
Another problem for us is that when people are distracted by shopping, they may not notice when their dog is getting into trouble, eating treats on counter displays or marking our antique furniture (old wood is so porous!).
I do think there are some times that a retractable can add to the fun of an outing while still being “on leash” for safety, such as on the beach, or on a hike in areas that are not busy with people and other dogs, but please be aware that dogs leaving a trail at all in some habitats can damage fragile vegetation, etc.

The safety concerns for dogs and people are many when you use a retractable leash in a populated area. Even if your dog is tiny and wouldn’t break a leash, wouldn’t it be terrible if an off leash dog attacked your little dog and it was 16 or more feet away from you when it happened? Please read these ten reasons below before deciding to use a retractable leash. Remember: if you use a retractable leash, keep it retracted and locked so it is as short as or shorter than a regular leash in places with other dogs and people. When you are in an open space, you can give them more room to explore. If you are looking to buy a retractable leash for trips to the beach, find one with a “belt” or “tape” instead of a cord. This can be safer for your skin.

Why I Don’t Recommend Retractable Leashes
June 11, 2014http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2014/06/11/retractable-dog-leash.aspx?i_cid=retractabledogleash-rb-petsBy Dr. Becker
A retractable leash is not so much a leash as it is a length of thin cord wound around a spring-loaded device housed inside a plastic handle. The handles of most retractable leashes are designed to fit comfortably in a human hand. A button on the handle controls how much of the cord is extended.
Retractable leashes are popular primarily because they aren’t as confining as regular leashes, allowing dogs more freedom to sniff and poke around on walks. But unfortunately, there are many downsides to this type of leash.

10 Reasons Not to Use a Retractable Leash

1. The length of retractable leashes, some of which can extend up to 26 feet, allows dogs to get far enough away from their humans that a situation can quickly turn dangerous. A dog on a retractable leash is often able to run into the middle of the street, for example, or make uninvited contact with other dogs or people.

2. In the above scenario, or one in which your pet is being approached by an aggressive dog, it is nearly impossible to get control of the situation if the need arises. It’s much easier to regain control of – or protect — a dog at the end of a six-foot standard flat leash than it is if he’s 20 or so feet away at the end of what amounts to a thin string.

3. The thin cord of a retractable leash can break – especially when a powerful dog is on the other end of it. If a strong, good-sized dog takes off at full speed, the cord can snap. Not only can that put the dog and whatever he may be chasing in danger, but also the cord can snap back and injure the human at the other end.

4. If a dog walker gets tangled up in the cord of a retractable leash, or grabs it in an attempt to reel in their dog, it can result in burns, cuts, and even amputation. In addition, many people have been pulled right off their feet by a dog that reaches the end of the leash and keeps going. This can result in bruises, “road rash,” broken bones, and worse.

5.Dogs have also received terrible injuries as a result of the sudden jerk on their neck that occurs when they run out the leash, including neck wounds, lacerated tracheas, and injuries to the spine.

6. Retractable leashes allow dogs more freedom to pull at the end of them, which can look like aggression to another dog who may decide to “fight back.”

7. The handles of retractable leashes are bulky and can be easily pulled out of human hands, resulting in a runaway dog.

8. Along those same lines, many dogs – especially fearful ones – are terrorized by the sound of a dropped retractable leash handle and may take off running, which is dangerous enough. To make matters worse, the object of the poor dog’s fear is then “chasing” her, and if the leash is retracting as she runs, the handle is gaining ground on her – she can’t escape it. Even if this scenario ultimately ends without physical harm to the dog (or anyone else), it can create lingering fear in the dog not only of leashes, but also of being walked.

9.Retractable leashes, like most retractable devices, have a tendency to malfunction over time, either refusing to extend, refusing to retract, or unspooling at will.

10. Retractable leashes are an especially bad idea for dogs that haven’t been trained to walk politely on a regular leash. By their very nature, retractables train dogs to pull while on leash, because they learn that pulling extends the lead.

If your dog is well trained, gentle mannered and smart enough to master a regular leash and a retractable leash without being confused, you could be one of the rare guardians that can walk your pooch on any kind of leash without increasing risks to either one of you.

4 Responses to “Why we Discontinued the Sale of Retractable Leashes”

I became convinced that retractable leashes are dangerous when I saw a small dog almost get choked to death on one. I was waiting for an elevator to go down but when it arrived it was heading up. A woman was in the back with a small dog on a retractable leash. The dog came out into the landing and the doors closed behind it. The poor dog was being lifted up by the elevator. Another bystander grabbed the dog to relieve the tension while I struggled to detach it. We got it off just in time. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.

My retractable leash goes very well with my dog. All arguments against the use of it is related to the misuse of the leash and poor training, not the leash itself. It’s like telling everyone that you’re not going to sell a knife because it can kill.

Dog training 101 will tell you not to allow a dog to pull a leash, but some owners even assume that pulling is just natural. That’s what breaks the leash.

On the sideway, I’d also never unlock the leash. Hey, they do have a lock, which is designed to lock up the leash for safety. (Could anything be more obvious?)

I only use the retractable leash in a safe place, such as a park, so the dog enjoys more freedom while I, as her owner, can make sure she wouldn’t run away and become a stray dog.

While we agree with you, the number of incidences of injury re received weighed heavy on our conscience – we gladly special order them for people if they want them – as I said in the article they’re great at places like the beach! We just decided to take them off of the shelf in our store, and wanted to put the word out about the risks of using them, especially in tight places like the store, and on city streets/in traffic, etc. Not everyone is as sensible as you are about how to use it. In fact, a dog bit me recently – he hopped out of the car on that leash and ran 16 feet towards me while I was jogging by while his owner’s head was still in the car gathering stuff up. We encourage training and good sense when people buy them from us, but I felt it was a little extra something I could do to write a blog post to bring awareness to the issues they have, so incidences like the bite I received, or the many problems of people using them in the store that I described at the beginning of the article might be lessened.